MISCELLANEA.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume II, Issue 111, 22 August 1846, Page 3

MISCELLANEA.

Mr. John O'Connell, M.P., has a " Life of his Father" in the press, with his speeches. M. Guizot has announced that he will observe a strict neutrality on the Oregon question. Eugene Sue, that i-10l of the French puhlic, is now engaged in writing a work, to be entitled " The M emoirs of a Valet de Chambre." The total number of Militia regiments in the United Kingdom is 127, of which 61 belong to England, 14 to Wales, 14 to Scotland, and 38 to Ireland. There are at present employed or attached to the London p«st- office 1600 peisons, independently of the various "receivers" and other paid ifficers of the establishment. One of the auxiliary improvements at the London post-office, is an engine of 12-horse power, by which the bags and men are raised and lowered from and to the upper storey. Of Punch's Almanack fot 18 16, it is stated that upwards of 100,000 copies were so d in ten days. For the advertisements that appeared in it, the chargK was 45 guineas pei page ; which must have realised at least £500. The house of John Abel Smith, Esq., M.P., banker, London, has munificently insured with the Provi ent Clerks' Association, the life of each clerk in the house, for sums varying in amount from £100 to £250, paying the first, and undertaking to pay all future premiums.

Royal Nayy — the 'Terrible' — largest War-Stkamer in the World. — Th* Terrible, war-steamer, is in commission, and now fitting for sea at Woolwich ; she has twenty guns mounted, also a brass field-p ; ece and carriage, and a waggon for powder to accompany it. On her upper deck, each side the bow, are two long 56-pounders, Monk's 1 1 feet guns, to fire fore and ait in a line with the keel ; these are mounted on a slide, and will cross fire with each other, and also sweep round to the sides ; two more of the same guns, right aft in the stern, will also cross and sweep to the broadside on their pivot, so as to fire forward, acting as chase guns if required. She has two 68-pounders on each broadside, to carry shells or solid shot, which can be trained fore or abaft, according to circumstances. On the deck below, which is also flush fore and aft, are 8 guns, viz. two long 56pounders, Monk's guns, 11 feet long, in the bow ports, to fire in a line with the keel, and also several degrees of training on the broadsides, and two of the same guns in the stern, right aft, which can give such depression as to prevent even a small boat from coming under her stern ; with four guns 68-pounders, on her broadsides, for shells or solid shot. There are four smaller guns, on the upper deck, toT)e traversed to any place, or carried on shore in her paddle-box boats, if required for use in landing troops, &c. She has four separate boilers, independent of each other, which may be connected when required ; four funuels, one to each boiler ; the two after ones strike down, so as to alkw a square mainsail to be set when sailing, and still using the two foremost boilers, thus working halt her power, at the same time saving a considerable consumption of coals. This is an excellent contrivance, as there are four small funnels instead of one large one, which is a great advanta^ c, as the ship will not be wholly disabled by losing one, two, or even three funnels, like the one-funnel ship would be on her's being carried away ; her oue funnel lost, she has lost all. The lerrible has two magazines, and two shell rooms, one of each before the engineroom, and one abzft, for the safety of the yes-

sel, to prevent any powder passing the engineroom when firing the guns. She can store 400 tons of coals belcw tie lo«er deck, and is prepared on the midship part of U.e deck to take 200 or 300 tons more, packed in bags, as a dffence from shot to the engines and boilers, filling up a space of thirteen feet. In addition to her thick, substantial, solid sides, she has good capacity, and, if required for any particular service, can carry more coal in sacks. With regard to the conveyance of troops, she can berth a thousand men under cover of her second gun-deck, ndependent of her ship's company, their berth being below forward, and the officers' cabins, gun-room, &c. abaft ; so that each gun-deck is entirely clear, and always ready for action, without removing a bulkhead, — and the deck being periectly free, from the captain's cabin abaft, to the bow of the vessel. She is constructed in the strongest and most substantial manner, on Mr. Lang's improved method of uniting the frame timbers, making her perfectly watertight, so that she would swim even if her external keel and plank were off her bottom. This method is also adopted in the Royal Albert, 120 guns, now in her irame, and may be seen on the slip in Woolwich dockyard. The engine-room of the Terrible is most splendid; en deck, the whole length of the engine-room, are gratings open and well ventilated hy hatchways giving light and air to the engineers, stokers, &c. It is an admirable plan, such as no steamer as yet has the advantage of; and each boiler has a separate hatchway, and may be readily taken out for repair, without interfering with the other boilers. This method of Mr. Lang's invention prevents the necessity of ripping up the deck, which is the case with other steamers when the boilers are required to be taken out from those vessels, and-there too, the deck covering the boilers, the engineers and stokers have the light admitted by the hatchway over the engines only. The Terrible s engines are most majestic ; they are 800 horse-power, the production of Maudslay, Sons, & Field, and show to advantage in this large war steamer. Her decks have hatchways in various parts, scuttles, skylights, &c. for ventilating the ship even to the lower parrs of her hull ; and there are many other conveniences too numerous to mention, contributing to the efficiency of the ship and the comforts of the officers and crew, so that she may be said to be the largest and most perfect war steamer ever built. The Terrible is commanded by Captain Ramsay, late or the Dee steam- vessel, and she is to have a com}- iment of 240 officers, men and boss. — Nautical Standard.

Dancing. — To create a good dancer, requires the rarest ccmbinatLn of physical and mental endowments. Graceful as the forms transmitted to us by the potteries of Etruria and the frescoes of Herculaneum, she must unite with the strength of an athlete, the genius of a first-rate actress. That even moderate dancing demands immoderate abilities, is attested by the exhibition of human ungainliness disfiguring all the court balls of Europe. There may be seen the representatives of the highest nobility, tutored by the highest education, shuffling over the polished floor with stiffened arms and bewildered legs — often out of lime — always out of place — 'as if acting under the influence of a galvanic battery. Not one in ten of them rises even to mediocrity as a dancer. A few degrees lower in the social scale, and it would be not one in twenty. Amid the shoving, shouldering, shuffling mob of dancers in an ordinary ballroom, the absence of all grace amounts even to the ludicrous. Forty years long have people been dancing the quadrilles now in vogue, which consist ol six favourite dances, fashionable in Paris at the close of the last century, and there singly known by the names they still retain — " La Poule, L'Ete, Le Pantalon, Le Trenis," &c. &c. To avoid the monotony of dancing each in succession, for hours at a time, down a file of forty couple, it was arranged that every eight couple should form a square, and perform the favourite dances in succession, with the same partner — a considerable relief to the monotony of the ballroom. Yet, after all this experience, if poor Monsieur le Treuis (after whom one of the figures was named, and who, during the consulate, died dancing mad in a public lunatic asylum) could rise, sane, from the dead, it would be enough to drive him mad again to see how little had been acquired, in the way of practice, since his decease. The processes and varieties of the ball-room are just where he left them on his exit ! — Blackwood's Magazine.

A Noble Executioner. — The Heidelberg executioner is noble by right of descent. The origin of hjs family's nobility is given by M. Dumas as follows :—: — " The evening of the day on which King Louis of Bavaria was crowned Emperor, there was a splendid ball It the Town Hall, at which the Empress was present. Amongst the guests was a cavalier dressed entirely in black, and having hit- face - covered with n black mask.

He invited the empress to dance, she accej ted, and, whilst they were dancing together, another mask approached the emperor and asked him if he knew who his wife's partner was. ' No,' replied the emperor, ' but I suppose it is some soveieign prince.' " • Lower than that,' said the mask. " ' Some nobleman then — a count or baron?' " « Lower than that.' " ' Perhaps with a knight V " ' Lower still.' " ' With an esquire ?' " ' Less than that.' " • A page V " • You have not guessed it — lower still.' " The emperor flushed crimson with anger." " ' A groom V "• It that were all !' answered the unknown with a strange laugh. " ' But who is it then V cried the emperor. " * Tear off his m-tsk and you will see.' ' " The Mnperor approached the sable cavalier, and tore off his mask. It was the headsman. " • Miscreant !' shouted the emperor, as his sword flashed from the scabbard. * commend thy soul to God before' thou diest.' " • Sire !' replied the headsman, falling on his knees., ' you may kill me if you will ; but the empress has not the less danced with me, and the dishonour, if dishonour there be, is already incurred. Do better than that : knight me ; and if any one dares to speak evil of her Majesty, ihe same sword that executes justice ihall vindicate her fame.' " The emperor reflected for a moment. " ' The advice is good,' said he at last. ' Henceforward you shall no longer be called the headsman, but the last of the judges' — Then, giving him three blows on the shoulder with his sword flat, "'Rise!' he continued; 'from this hour you are the lowest among nobles, and the first among burghers.' " And accordingly since that day, in all public processions and ceremonies, the executioner walks by himself, in the rear of the nobles and in front of , the commoners." — Blackwaod's Magazine.

Anecdote op Prince Metternich. — The family name, we are informed by M. Dumas, was originally Metter, but received the addition of the last syllable in the following manner. — " In one ol the great battles of the fifteenth century, the Emperor of Germany saw an entire regiment take to flight with the exception of one man, who^^tood his ground and defended himself gallantlj^jll he fell covered with wounds. The Emperor inquired his name. It was Meiter." That night at supper tie Emperor said, talking of the regiment in question, " They all fled but Metter nicht." Everybody knows that " nicht" is the German for not. The family adopted the additional syllable, and hence the origin of the name of Metternich. M. de Metternich, it appears, is a great collector of autographs, and of course his position has facilitated the gratification of this taste. His collection is rich in royal, imperial and pjincely letteis; nor is there any lack of odes from German poets, and sonnets from Italian improvisatori. One day, however, it occurred to him that now the public press had become a power in many countries, he ought to have the autographs of a few journalists, in order to complete his collection ; and as in Italy and Germany, thanks to the censorship, there are plenty ot journals but no journalists, he was obliged to send to Fiance. Amongst others, M. Jules Janin (one of the editors of the Journal dcs DebatsJ received a most polite request for an autograph from the lival of M. de Talleyrand. Janin immediately took up his pen, and wrote as follows :—: — "Received from his Excellency Prince Metternich, twenty four bottles of JoWannisberg, first quality." Paris, 15th May, 1838. A month afterwards there arrived at Paris the twenty-four bottles oi wine, of which Janin, with a confidence that the Prince no doubt knew how to appreciate, had acknowledged the receipt beforehand. M. de Metternich has preserved Janin's witty autograph with the greatest care. I doubt very much if Janin has preserved M. de Metternich's wine. — Ibid,

Moorish Gifts to Louis Philippe. — The presents brought over by the Morocco ambassador for the King, hays arrived at Paris. One of the horses, however, has been left at Lyons, lo be cured of an injury received on the voyage. The five that have reached the capital are remarkably fine animals ; two are from the stables of Muley Mohammed, the eldest son of the Emperor, an.l the others are direct from the Ouad Souf.

Sale op a Bond given by his late Royal Highness the Duke of York. — At the Auction Mart, Mr. G. Rjbins offered for public competition a bond given by his late Royal Highness the Duke of York to Mr. William Gilpin, to secure the payment of £1,955 : 125., of which £665 : 12s. balance of principal now rematas due, with interest thereon from the 15th of September, 1826. The bond was secured on the property in Nova

Scotia. Mr. Robins asked £900 for the lot, remarking that the balance, with the interest, was above £ 1 ,200. After considerable delay in getting an offer, a gentleman bid twentyguineas. This was eventua ly increased to 180 guineas, at which sum it was purchased by Mr. Sykes, of the firm of Messrs. ftansoa & Co.

The Ice Harvest in America. — The ice harvest is being gathered and housed, and a busy tii^e it makes uptown. It may not be generally known that a good pond of water, situated in the upper part of the city, will yield to its owuer a better income than a field of wheat of the same size. This season promises to be a prolific one in the ice line. — Boston Daily Advertiser.

TheCricketonthe Hearth. — Dickens' " Cricket on the Hearth" has been translated, and is now in course of publication in a daily newspaper in Franc, and in a fortnightly periodical. The translation is also being reprinted in some of the smaller fry of the journal;.. Dickens is not jit all appreciated in France, nor is he even understood. It is, indeed, almost impossible that he should be, for all the charm of his peculiar style is necessarily lost in translation ; and, besides, the French lack knowledge of that class of society which he describes. — Galignani.

Baron de Rothschild a Manchesterman. — Baron de Rothschild commenced his career as an exporting agent, in Manchester. His business was a limited and somewhat unsatisfactory one ; and few of those who knew the Mr. Rothschild to whom they once sold small lots of calicoes and fustians, could recognise him afterwards as the monstrs of funds, loans, and finance. Now that the name of Rothschild, in modern parlance is substituted for that of Crcesus ! it may not be useless to state that we have now before us the business card, — small, plain, and unpretending, engraved by Mr. Bottoraley, for Mr. Rothschild, some forty years ago. The name and address on the card is enclosed in an oldfashioned Vandyked border, and is " N. M. Rothschild, Manufacturer, No. 15 BrownStreet, Manchester." — Manchester Gvardian.

American Dunning. — A great deal of mte est aud curiosity was excited lately, by the fact of a tall, fine- looking man, being seen leisurely promenading along Second-street, wearing a coat, on the back of which, in large staring gilt letters, were the words " Newspaper Dun." As a matter of course, he was the " observed of all observers," and a train of the curious followed at his heels, wondering at the sigh:, and unable to comprehend the mystery. On inquiry, we ascertained that he was employed by an association of newsmen, for the purpose of collecting hopeless bills, aud shaming debtors into the payment of their debts. He operates in this manner when he has a bill to collect : — He stops at the house of the debtor, and the large letters on his back tell to all passers-by what his errand is, and, at the same time, give a timely caution aga'nst trusting the occupant of the house. Any person thus harassed would sooner pay the bill than have the Dun calling upon him continually, with the great letters upon his back. If he has a bill against a person whom he cannot catch anywhere except in the street, he presents his account, much to the shame of the debtor, who is perceived and shunned by every one as a person not to be trusted. The " Dun" appears to be a determined man, possessed of the greatest sangfroid, and not to be frightened at trifles. Those who owe had better take warning and pay immediately, or the " Dun" may give them a call. — Philadelphia paper.